Spring-hinge



2 u e e h 4 S +u e e h S 2 ,(No Model) J. SOHLUTTER.

SPRING HINGE.

No. 567,727; Patented Sept. 15, 1896.

Inventor.

Aflorney.

W ne sses.

UNITED STATES PATENT FFlCE.

JOHN SCI-ILUTER, OF BALTIMORE, MARYLAND.

SPRING-HINGE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 567,727, dated September 15, 1896. Application filed July 11, 1894. Serial No. 517,174. (No model.)

To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that 1, JOHN SOHLUTTER, a citizen of the United States, residing in the city of Baltimore, State of Maryland, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Spring-Hinges, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification.

My invention relates to spring-hinges for doors, operating to automatically close the door by causing it to swing into normal position when opened in either direction, and has for its object to provide such a hinged doormounting that shall embody the principle of causing a partially rotatable cam-surface to constantly bear against a fixed cam of like conformation by means of a spring applied and maintained under tension and operating by direct pressure, one of said cams bein g fixedly mounted upon the projecting bracketarm of the jambplate and the other of them loosely mounted upon a pintle upon which the spring is maintained and upon which the door is swung.

My invention to that end consists of a device embodying that principle, as hereinafter described.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l is a side View of the hinge in place on the j amb and door. Fig. 2 is a like view with one of the outer plates removed. Fig. 3 is a section on the line 0c :0 of Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is a section on the line w w of Fig. 3. Fig. 5 is an elevation in perspective, showing an interior view of the several parts and of their relative position. Fig. 7 isafront view of the stationary cam, the projecting arm of the j amb-platc to which it is secured, the pintle passing through the same, the movable cam carried by the pintle, and the spring mounted on the pintle and bearing upward against the under face of the movable cam. Fig. 6 is a like view showing the relative position of the cams when the door is swung to the right, and Fig. 8 is a like view when the door is swung to the left. Fig. 9 is a detail sectional view showing the manner in which the head of the screw S is engaged with one of the leaves D.

To the door-jamb A is fastened, by screws a or other appropriate means, a jamb-plate a, with two bracket-arms cc projecting horizontally therefrom and at right angles thereto. The under face of the upper one of these bracketar1ns is provided with a cam-surface formed by a downwardly-projecting cylinder M cut at an angle from the periphery upward and toward the center, so as to present two inclined surfaces, forming a double cam, which is thus fixed and immovable on the jambplate bracket-arm.

The pintle E is a rod passing through the upper and lower bracket-arms of the jambplate, and has loosely mounted upon it a camcylinder N, cut in such a manner as to present exactly opposite conformation of the fixed cam-cylindelgwith which it contacts. A coiled spring Z) is wrapped around the pintle, its upperbearin g being 011 the under face of the camcylinder N mounted on the pintle.

The lower end of the spring rests upon the nut 25 of the tubular adjusting-screw which works on a threaded sleeve S loose on the pintle. The head S of said screw is formed with a series of notches or teeth, as clearly shown in Figs. 2, 4, and 5, which are engaged by a suitable projection s, on one of the leaves D so that said sleeve S is rotated with the door.

By rotating the adjusting-screw the coil is compressed, and hence bears with greater force upon the rotatable cam cylinder mounted on the pintle which bears against the fixed cam-cylinder mounted upon the under face of the upper bracket-arm of the jamb-plate. The rotatable cam-cylinder is provided with a frontal projection 0, whereby it is rotated. Means to secure the door to the hinge-mounting consists of a 'pair of doorplates D D, one of which is shown in interior elevation on the left-hand side of Fig. 5. The other is exactly like it, except for the presence of the projection, pin, or screw .9 which enters the head of the set-screw to prevent it from turning when the parts are assembled. The door B is maintained between these plates, which are screwed together and to the door.

As thus constructed, the hinge is adapted to receive a square-edged door which may be opened in either direction, and the spring is entirely concealed, is a direct acting and not a torsional spring, and the door-leaves are not in any manner connected with the spring, may be removed without disturbing the latter, and operate only to maintain the door in position while rotating on the pintle, and by such rotation bring their interior projections 61 in contact with the lug r on the rotatable cam-cylinder mounted on the pintle, and thus produce a compression of the spring.

The fixed and rotatable cam-cylinders are counterparts of each other. It is obvious that they may be varied in detail from the form shown in the drawings, while preserving the principle of a double cam, i. 0., a camsurface on each side of a vertical center. As shown in Figs. 2, at, and 5 of the drawings, these cam-surfaces are duplicated in the rear of the cylinder, but their action is cumulative only, and operative only to produce more uniformity and certainty of action.

The jamlo-plate a, fixedly secured to the door-j amb and carrying outwardly-proj ecting arms 0 c at top and bottom, to the under face of the top one of which is provided the fixed cam-surface M, affords a means for mounting thereon the sectional door-leaves D D, which perform two functionsfirst, supporting the door between them, and, second, contacting with the lug r on the rotatable cam-cylinder N. In order to perform these functions the door-leaves are each provided with interior projections d at top and bottom, and these projections are laterally recessed at d d, extending through the rear edge (Z' of the doorleaf to admit through the same the upper and lower projecting arms 0 c of the jamb-plate, and thus sustain the door-leaves in position. The projections 61 are also recessed at d to admit the passage through the same of the rotatable pintle E, and operate as vertical guiding-recesses and journal-bearings therefor.

It is obvious from the drawings that when the sectional door-leaves D D are brought together their open recesses (Z will form a closed circular recess for the pintle E, and that the inner face of the projection d of each leaf will closely contact with each side of the lug r on the cam-cylinder N, so that when the door is swung in either direction the cam-face of the rotated cylinder will bear upon the opposite cam-face of the fixed cylinder M and be depressed, and thus compress the spring, not by torsion, but by direct vertical compression.

The walls of the open recesses (1 above re ferred to are preferably made to fit the pintle closely, so that when the two leaves D D are screwed in place upon the door the pintle will be gripped between them with sufficient friction to cause the pintle to rotate in the arms 0 c, and thereby distribute the bearings for the door between these points and the bearing of the cam N 011 the pintle. The compression of the spring caused by the downward reciprocation of the cam N when the door is opened in either direction may give it a tendency to rotate with the said cam, and thereby put the spring under torsion as well as compression. This, however, in the construction shown, is prevented by the corresponding rotation of the sleeve S.

It will also be observed that when the door is full open in either direction, that is to say, at right angles to its closed position, the complementary cam-surfaces of the two cams come into such relation to each other as to form a lock which holds the door in such position against the action of the spring. This will be readily understood by reference to Fig. 6, from which it will be seen that further rotation to the right of the lower cam will bring its point of greatest elevation into contact with the portions of the upper cam which have the greatest downward extension, which is the locking relation described.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The combination with the jamb-plate having laterally-proj ecting bracket-arms c, c, a cam-cylinder M fixedly mounted on one of the same, a pintle E having its end portions mounted in recesses in the bracket-arms and in the fixed cam-cylinder, a cam-cylinder N loosely mounted upon the pintle, a spring coiled around the said pintle, a verticallymovable adjusting-screw against which the lower end of said spring has a bearing, a bear ing on which said screw works, and a pair of door-sustaining leaves mounted upon the bracket-arms of the j amb-plate and having interior devices adapted to contact with and rotate the cam-cylinder N when the door is swung in either direction, substantially as specified.

2. The combination, forming a springhinge, of a jamb-plate, having a pair of projecting bracket-arms c, c, a fixed camcylinder M carried by one of said arms, a rotatable pintle E mounted. in recesses in the bracket-arms and cam-cylinder, a second cam-cylinder N provided with a lug '2" and loosely mounted upon the pintle and having its cam-face normally coinciding with the .cam-face of the fixed cylinder M and adapted to temporarily lock therewith in certain positions, a spring E, coiled on the pintle, and a pair of door-sustaining leaves having vertical journal-recesses d lateral recesses d to admit the passage through the same of the bracket-arms when the door is swung in either direction, and interiorprojections 06 adapted to rotate the pintle and its cam-cylind er when brought into contact with the actuating-lug thereon, substantially as specified.

3. The combination with the jamb-plate a having bracket-arms c c, the fixed cam-cylinder M carried by one of them, the rotatable pintle E, the vertically reciprocable camcylinder N mounted thereon and having a lug r, the coiled spring Z), the set-screw upon which the lower end of said spring is seated, the threaded sleeve S, upon which said screw is vertically adjustable, means whereby said sleeve is caused to rotate with the pintle, and the pair of divided door-leaves D D having interior projections 01 provided with recesses (Z, d (i said parts being constructed, combined and operated to enable a door hung between said door-leaves to swing on the pintle and bracket-arms in either direction and produce a tension of the spring by compression by contact between the fixed and movable cam-cylinders, substantially as specified.

4:. The combination of the jamb-plate having the laterally-projecting fixed arms at top and bottom, one of which carries a fixed cam, a pintle mounted in said arms, a second complementary cam loosely mounted on said pintle in contact with the first-named cam, and having a projection, the threaded sleeve my signature this 9th day of J uly, A. D. 1894. 2 5

JOHN SGHLUTTER. \Vitnesses:

'lnos. KELL BRADFORD, LEE PUROELL. 

